Aberdeen International Youth Festival
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Aberdeen International Youth Festival is one of Scotland’s major international cultural events and the world’s premier festival of youth arts.
Each year Aberdeen International Youth Festival attracts up to 1000 of the most talented young performers and performing companies from across the globe. It provides a showcase for their talents and creates innovative and exciting new work by bringing them together with leading professionals and artists.
The event brings colour, spectacle and vibrant creativity to Aberdeen and the North East and has attracted talented companies from over 70 countries to Scotland. As well as the ticketed events the Festival stages a parade, open-air performances and a fringe programme in community venues.
A packed ten day programme attracts over 30,000 people to around seventy events throughout North East Scotland. There are concerts, dance shows and galas in major Aberdeen venues such as His Majesty's Theatre, The Music Hall and The Lemon Tree as well as smaller venues such as churches (such as Queen's Cross Church, Aberdeen) and also features a touring programme taking events to rural venues.
The AIYF programme includes something for everyone with symphony orchestras and steel bands, song recitals and jazz, traditional music, world music, ballet, contemporary and traditional dance. The festival also produces a critically acclaimed and radical young opera, (Opera Garden) as well as producing unique international performances.
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[edit] Dates of the Festival
- 2 - 12 August 2006
- 1 - 11 August 2007
- 30 July - 9 August 2008
[edit] Interesting Facts
The Aberdeen International Youth Festival was formerly known as the International Festival of Youth Orchestras (IFYO) and has grown to attract the world's best youth dance, theatre, choral and music companies to the city every August.
The 2007 Festival will be the 35th since IFYO came to Aberdeen in 1973.
[edit] Notable names to appear at the Festival include
- Claudio Abbado
- Kyung-Wha Chung
- Aaron Copland
- Noel Edmunds
- Rolf Harris
- Nigel Kennedy
- Magnus Magnusson
- Simon Rattle
- Daniel Rowland - Soloist and winner of the Festival's Skene Award
- Leopold Stokowski
- The University of the Philippines Concert Chorus
[edit] Patrons
- June, Marchioness of Aberdeen & Temair CBE, DL, D.St.J, LLD, FRCM, FRSAMD, RRSE
- The Lord Provost of the City of Aberdeen John M Reynolds JP
- Evelyn Glennie OBE
[edit] History of the Festival
The Festival was created in the late 1960s by the late Blyth Major, Music Director of the Midland Youth Orchestra and Lionel Bryer, later Chairman of the International Youth Foundation. They conceived the idea of bringing together youth orchestras from all over the world at a festival using music as a unifying bond to promote international understanding. The first International Festival of Youth Orchestras was held in 1969 in St Moritz in Switzerland.
Invited by the British Tourist Authority, in 1973 the Festival moved to the UK and established a base both in Aberdeen and London for the following five years. Due to the superb facilities and local support in the City of Aberdeen and its University, the Festival was able to expand to incorporate all forms of dance, jazz and choral music.
Internationally renowned guest conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, Walter Susskind and Leopold Stokowski, were invited to conduct the Festival Orchestra - a specially created orchestra, which was invited to appear at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and also played at the opening concert of the Edinburgh International Festival in 1978 (the first youth orchestra to appear at The Edinburgh Festival).
Due to the success and support from both the City of Aberdeen, local businesses and growing audiences, in 1979 the management decided to focus this international event entirely in Aberdeen and North East of Scotland. Nicola Wallis, who had been associated with IFYO since 1973, was appointed Director in 1980 and the name of the Festival changed to the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. Stephen Stenning, formerly Director of the Community Programme at Dundee Rep Theatre, took over from Nicola Wallis as Chief Executive of the AIYF in May 2003.
[edit] Opera Garden
Opera Garden is the Aberdeen International Youth Festival's Opera Project. Named after the world famous Aberdonian opera singer, Mary Garden, the project aspires to continue her work, providing new challenges and performances for young singers.
Conceived by Artistic Director Gidon Saks, the project brings together young singers from across the world and in three weeks they produce a dazzling full scale opera production. Opera Garden has staged Cosi fan tutte, Eugene Onegin, Don Giovanni, Carmen, The Magic Flute and Falstaff to critical acclaim.
"Brilliantly directed… visually stunning…absolutely thrilling… Once again the youth festival pulls off a major operatic triumph that should not be missed." The Magic Flute, Festival 2004
[edit] AIYF Dance School
The Festival's Dance Summer School has been running for 25 years. The Dance Summer School was introduced over 20 years ago and has welcomed outstanding teachers from major schools and companies worldwide including the Paris Opera Ballet School and the Kirov and Bolshoi companies. To this day the School remains an important and unique course in Scotland.
The Dance Summer School is held annually as part of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. The school offers an intensive course in dance for students aged 12 - 16, a performance course for advanced level students in full time training for a career in dance, a music theatre course and a 'taster day' for younger dance students.
The school is directed by Kenn burke, the Festival's Director of Dance and former Principal Dancer and Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet. He heads a faculty of world renowned dance artists and teachers, including Noriko Ohara, Julian Moss, Susie Cooper and Caroline McCrory.
